Fly Fishing in Grover Cleveland Park

I was really disappointed by what I found at this park.  Grover Cleveland Park is listed
as a prime carp water.

But instead of finding carp I found a pond covered with green scum.

According to the information posted in the park, the lake was treated with a herbicide
on July 15th, 2013.

I did see a few bass swimming in this mess and some bluegill too.

But there was no way I was going to cast a fly into this mess.

Even the aerators had no visible affect on this green growth.

Some more carp

Not much to say here.  I went to a local lake and caught a few.  Fishing had been slow
all week.  So it felt good to come here and catch carp.

I hooked 3 and landed 2 due to a snapped tippet.  These are fun size carp about 2 kilos
or so.  They fight hard like the bigger ones.  At least two runs across the lake and I enjoyed
each run and head shake.

Camera in one hand ,rod under the arm and carp about to be landed. A great way to
end the month.  In the past week I went to 8 new places to fly fish. Some places were bust
and others were fun to fish.

At another part of the lake a group of fly carpers.  A total of 12 carp were caught by
this group with deer hair flies.

Tony started fly fishing for carp about two years ago.  Today he brought his daughter Isabella.
Yes she is a fly carper too!

Fly Fishing White Pond

I used the Wulff Ambush Taper fly line today to be able to make some longer cast at White Pond.
The Ambush Taper has a twenty foot head which makes the line ideal for single hand Spey Casting.
Whenever I don't know what fly to use I start small.  I used a # 16 Bead Head nymph
pattern to catch the bluegill out in the middle of the pond.

What makes this pond different is that I saw no fry anywhere on the shore line today.
 The pond is listed as having bass, carp, pickerel, catfish, yellow perch and sunfish.
 I saw no evidence of fish activity at all.

North of the pond is this stream which feeds the pond and it is here that trout are stocked.

A quiet pool.

Another pool

White pond looking north

Westwood ho!

Overbrook Park is south of the very large Woodcliff Lake.  Water from Woodcliff flows
into Pascack Brook which passes through this park.  Trout are put into this water several
times a season.  

Looking south in Overbrook Park.

A convenient place to sit since there are no benches

Pascack Brook riffling through the park.  Yellow perch are present.

I traveled to Westwood New Jersey for two more places I have never fished.  The pond pictured
has no name too; and is located in Pascack Brook County Park  It's a short walk from Overbrook.
I'm told there are Bass, carp, crappie and other panfish.  I caught nothing.

Glen Rock fly fishing

I started the day with 3 new places to fish.  I had no information about these places but each
looked promising on the map.  What I did not expect to find was a place not on the map.
While trying to locate Diamond Brook Park, a man told me of a pond which was fished by
the locals.  He also informed that the lake in Diamond Brook Park is private.

So I headed for the pond with no name.  I was surprised to see that in spite of it's size
it had an aerator; which is a good sign.   I sat for awhile thinking how lucky I was
to find a place that not many know of.  A walk around the pond perimeter revealed that
there were more than just small fish here.  I saw  big bass cruising in the pond.

I fished several spots while trying a number of different flies.   Finally I tried a #12 black stalking bug.
This fly is a little like the bass flies tied by Mark Siddoti, the well known fly fisher.  
After several casts with this fly, I got a hit.  I had already caught and released a bluegill but
I could feel this was not a bluegill.  This fish pulled with authority.  It dove to the bottom of the
pond several times before surrendering to the pressure I applied with my six weight rod.
My reward for fishing this pond was a nice bass.

This place is called Arnold's Pond.  It is feed by Goffle Brook.

When I arrived the park was still being renovated.  Even the paths had not been paved
so that walkers can walk.

But the pond has fish.

Looking north below the pond

I noticed this vulture in the tree above me.

I was literally chased from Gypsy Pond Park by a swarm of repellent resistant mosquitoes.
So I will return to this park when cooler weather prevails.

Deer, me no fishing

The heat wave is over and temperatures are lower; only reaching the high eighties.

I took the opportunity to look at Lake Appert located in The Celery Farm.  I saw no farm but
that is the name of the area in New Jersey.

After I arrived I learned that no fishing is allowed in this park. But I saw what looked to be a huge

large mouth bass leap out of the water as I imagined what might have been.

There is a narrow path around the lake but not much else to see.  The area is wild.

There were two of these towers which allow one to look over the lake without the view being
blocked by the weeds.

note the nesting boxes planted in the lake for migratory birds.

On the far side of the lake I saw a doe and her fawn walking along the path in front of me

They seemed to be accustomed to seeing people and continued to walk in front of me without
fear.

The fawn would stop to take a look at me and then scamper off to catch up with the doe.

Here is a better photo, more light.

Finally the doe left the path and walked into the brush so that she could take a better look
 at me.  I continued to walk on the path and left the park.

First Carp since June

It has been extremely hot here for about two weeks.  Every day the air temperature is above
90F.  So I have not found any new places where fish are feeding.

I do know of several spots where fishing can be good in unusual conditions like we are
experiencing this summer.  I took the train to New Jersey to Garfield, New Jersey.

I arrived just before noon.  A walk around the lake revealed that fish, lots of carp were
actively tailing (eating off the bottom).  I picked a spot under a large tree to rest and
to drink a litre of cold water.  On a day like today I drink as much water as possible.

The lake water showed evidence of algae bloom but it was not too bad.   Here and there I saw
carp making swirls on the surface.  In spite of the heat, here at least, carp were actively feeding
during the hottest part of the day.   I put my rod together as quickly as I could.  My first cast
was made with the last fly I fished here.  I used a #12 Elk Hair Caddis.  After I had a few
fish refuse to take it, I switched and used a sub surface egg pattern under an indicator.

This set up worked.  It was almost too easy as I caught a small carp (by my standards).
I moved to an area where I had seen some bigger carp feeding.  I caught an aggressive
but small carp.   My third fish was hooked in the tail when I over reacted to the movement
of my indicator.  I broke the line so that the foul hooked carp could release itself.

I moved back to a spot I had fished earlier.  Here there was a feeding frenzy as all I could see
were the backs of carp.  It didn't take long before I could see my fly line move off across
the lake.  At first it moved slowly and then there was a wake created as the fish accelerated.
Since I'm using the Peux Fulgor reel there is no sound from the reel as the carp forced
the reel to release line. The fight was not long  and I wanted to catch an early train back to NYC.
 I probably could have caught more but  I was happy to have caught three on a very hot summer day. 

Babylon Fly Fishing

For the past few days the air temperature has been more than 90F.  Fishing is always
slow when there is a heat wave.  But I have lakes and ponds to visit in the hope of
finding new places to fish.

I have been to Babylon, New York before but never to Lake Hawleys.  This lakes
sits neatly between a highway.

This lake looks to have fish but I could not find any access to the shore line.

Since there was still daylight, I walked to nearby Argyle Lake.  I fished there for more
than an hour.  I saw no fish anywhere.

Enjoy the flowers until the heat wave ends or I'm able to catch a fish.